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The Great Thoughts
Upon its publication, George Seldes's The Great Thoughts instantly took its place as a classic--a treasure house of the seminal ideas that have shaped the intellectual history of the world down through the ages. Seldes, a pivotal figure in the history of American journalism and a tireless researcher, spent the better part of his extraordinary lifetime compiling the thoughts that rule the world, casting his net widely and wisely through the essential works of philosophy, poetry, psychology, economics, politics, memoirs, and letters from the ancient Greeks to the modern Americans.
Now Seldes's splendid and important work has been revised and updated to include the great thoughts that have changed our world in the decade since the book's first appearance. Quotations from leaders as varied as Nelson Mandela, Lech Walesa, Yitzak Rabin, Newt Gingrich, and Jesse Jackson reflect the radical shifts in the world political scene. Toni Morrison and Cornel West speak out on the enduring vitality of African-American culture. Alvin Toffler and Arthur C. Clarke give us a glimpse into the future. Gloria Steinem and Monique Wittig define the motives and the goals of late twentieth-century feminism. Rachel Carson, Aldo Leopold, and Wallace Stegner ponder the meaning of wilderness in an increasingly populated and industrialized world. These and scores of other thinkers in all major disciplines have added their voices to this new edition of The Great Thoughts.
USA Today praised the first edition of The Great Thoughts as "a browser's delight." The work of a lifetime, brought up-to-date to reflect the global upheaval of the past decade, The Great Thoughts stands alone as an enduring achievement and an invaluable resource.
Now Seldes's splendid and important work has been revised and updated to include the great thoughts that have changed our world in the decade since the book's first appearance. Quotations from leaders as varied as Nelson Mandela, Lech Walesa, Yitzak Rabin, Newt Gingrich, and Jesse Jackson reflect the radical shifts in the world political scene. Toni Morrison and Cornel West speak out on the enduring vitality of African-American culture. Alvin Toffler and Arthur C. Clarke give us a glimpse into the future. Gloria Steinem and Monique Wittig define the motives and the goals of late twentieth-century feminism. Rachel Carson, Aldo Leopold, and Wallace Stegner ponder the meaning of wilderness in an increasingly populated and industrialized world. These and scores of other thinkers in all major disciplines have added their voices to this new edition of The Great Thoughts.
USA Today praised the first edition of The Great Thoughts as "a browser's delight." The work of a lifetime, brought up-to-date to reflect the global upheaval of the past decade, The Great Thoughts stands alone as an enduring achievement and an invaluable resource.
487 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1985
44 people are currently reading
408 people want to read
About the author
George Seldes
78 books24 followersInvestigative reporter and muckraking journalist. Author of twenty-one books. Publisher of a political newsletter called "In Fact." Crusader for press freedom. Dissenter and freethinker. One of the first to expose the dangers of tobacco smoking. Born in New Jersey, died in Vermont.
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
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May 28, 2025I've been called upon to defend the very concept of books like this. Compilations of quotations, I was informed, are less than worthless. Excerpting the words of important, influential, and famous people, and presenting them devoid of original context, can't help but to distort their meaning. There's no substitute for the totality of the source.
I did agree with the last point. You can't claim to understand important thinkers by having read even their most judiciously selected quotations. But you can, I argued, derive a useful sense of their interests, biases, and obsessions. Too, you can get an intimation of their literary style, which is important to those of us who love artful language. Either benefit, in my opinion, justifies a compilation like The Great Thoughts.
I admire George Seldes for the decades of effort he put in cataloging such a diverse range of profound and influential ideas, from the surviving books of the oldest recorded civilizations, right up through his own day (I believe he died in the 1980's). The copy of The Great Thoughts I received for Christmas in my teens piqued my interest in more philosophers, novelists, scientists, poets, essayists, artists, and political figures than I can easily remember. It was important to my intellectual development. It has an honored place on my shelf to this day.
The Great Thoughts is a great book.
I did agree with the last point. You can't claim to understand important thinkers by having read even their most judiciously selected quotations. But you can, I argued, derive a useful sense of their interests, biases, and obsessions. Too, you can get an intimation of their literary style, which is important to those of us who love artful language. Either benefit, in my opinion, justifies a compilation like The Great Thoughts.
I admire George Seldes for the decades of effort he put in cataloging such a diverse range of profound and influential ideas, from the surviving books of the oldest recorded civilizations, right up through his own day (I believe he died in the 1980's). The copy of The Great Thoughts I received for Christmas in my teens piqued my interest in more philosophers, novelists, scientists, poets, essayists, artists, and political figures than I can easily remember. It was important to my intellectual development. It has an honored place on my shelf to this day.
The Great Thoughts is a great book.
August 4, 2014
This was the last collection of quotations to be published by George Seldes, who died while it was in preparation and was completed by David Laskin. Like The Great Quotations, it is a most remarkable book, and the title is perhaps even more apt, for Seldes liked to give an abundance of context with his quotations, making them some of the longest quotations in any book of quotations. One liners are the exception, not the norm in his books. Like his other books of quotations, this represents the best of the genre.
May 24, 2015
Covering a vast spectrum of human experience -
most importantly leaders of different ages,
if you have heard of a person from history and wanted their actual words, in essence, George found the clarifying vision of the speaker, the lines that were most important from books and speeches.
It really helps unify the understanding of depth and difference in humans living through different times.
We are privileged to have such a reference of thought.
most importantly leaders of different ages,
if you have heard of a person from history and wanted their actual words, in essence, George found the clarifying vision of the speaker, the lines that were most important from books and speeches.
It really helps unify the understanding of depth and difference in humans living through different times.
We are privileged to have such a reference of thought.
February 27, 2010
A thought on any thought one ever thought, or thought to think. Indispensible reference, excellent bathroom book LOL
April 27, 2018
The best book of quotations I've ever read. I own both the original edition and the updated edition, and used to own an extra copy to loan out, until I loaned it to a friend and never got it back. Absolutely incredible book. Perhaps the best part is that Seldes doesn't stick just to nice quotes, but includes quotes from people you don't normally find listed...while I might not agree with them, that doesn't mean that what they said isn't important to know.
July 9, 2019
A book I continue to go back to with amazing quotes from history that share how we continue to repeat our past mistakes and how we can make the world a better place (or worse dependent on the author) A bedside book to reflect on forever.
May 30, 2020
There are two ways to read a book such as this; the first way is to read it cover to cover and the second is to find entries about people you are interested in. I have the 1985 version with the blue cover, so I don’t know if they corrected these problems for later publication.
The Great Thoughts is a book of quotations compiled by George Seldes throughout his lifetime. When this book came out in 1985 Seldes was still alive at the age of 94, so I don’t know how much longer he went on living. There is a lot to like about this book. In some of the cases, Seldes was able to take quotations directly from the people who said them while they were still alive. The most notable one of this that I can think of was Albert Einstein.
The Great Thoughts is organized like an encyclopedia or dictionary. The entries are sorted by the entrant’s name. Generally, it is the family name if they have one, but sometimes it is their official name. When the book includes the words or writings of Popes, it goes by their Papal name and not the name they had before becoming Pope. Generally, when a person thinks of Great Thoughts, they think only of the good thoughts. Seldes had this pointed out to him by Aldous Huxley. As such, we have some writings and quotations by such ‘luminary’ minds as Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini, Joseph Stalin, Vladimir Lenin, and Ruhollah Khomeini.
As I mentioned in the opening paragraph, this book does have problems. All of these problems are nitpicks, they are small enough, on the whole, to ignore or overlook because this book as a whole is quite good. One nitpick I have is with the organization of some of the quotes. For example, Marcus Aurelius is listed in the M’s rather than in the A’s as one would expect. The other nitpick I have is the weight that some of the people are given, or rather the amount of space some people are afforded. Freud has around three or four pages, while there is not one single mention of William Shakespeare. This is explained in the introduction though, so I don’t know what I should have expected.
The Great Thoughts is a book of quotations compiled by George Seldes throughout his lifetime. When this book came out in 1985 Seldes was still alive at the age of 94, so I don’t know how much longer he went on living. There is a lot to like about this book. In some of the cases, Seldes was able to take quotations directly from the people who said them while they were still alive. The most notable one of this that I can think of was Albert Einstein.
The Great Thoughts is organized like an encyclopedia or dictionary. The entries are sorted by the entrant’s name. Generally, it is the family name if they have one, but sometimes it is their official name. When the book includes the words or writings of Popes, it goes by their Papal name and not the name they had before becoming Pope. Generally, when a person thinks of Great Thoughts, they think only of the good thoughts. Seldes had this pointed out to him by Aldous Huxley. As such, we have some writings and quotations by such ‘luminary’ minds as Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini, Joseph Stalin, Vladimir Lenin, and Ruhollah Khomeini.
As I mentioned in the opening paragraph, this book does have problems. All of these problems are nitpicks, they are small enough, on the whole, to ignore or overlook because this book as a whole is quite good. One nitpick I have is with the organization of some of the quotes. For example, Marcus Aurelius is listed in the M’s rather than in the A’s as one would expect. The other nitpick I have is the weight that some of the people are given, or rather the amount of space some people are afforded. Freud has around three or four pages, while there is not one single mention of William Shakespeare. This is explained in the introduction though, so I don’t know what I should have expected.
January 17, 2024
A great book to have on the nightstand or next to your reading chair to just dip into. More selective than most collections of quotations, pithier than anthologies of philosophy. Many of the entries are from people one would expect, but I hadn't read far before coming across nine selections from Henri Frederic Amiel, whom I'd not heard of but whose thoughts impressed me.
August 4, 2017
"The Great Thoughts" is a treasure trove of aphorisms and quotes.
I was a long time fan of "The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations" (2nd edition), until, I came upon this book in a book-sale.
I was a long time fan of "The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations" (2nd edition), until, I came upon this book in a book-sale.
March 17, 2021
I always love a good quote book. You can find inspiring quotes to just down right common since! This is a book that you keep in the bathroom and will spend a life time just trying to finish!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 18, 2025
This is a fantastic casual reading for fun! I kept a copy on my shelf and read a line or two whenever i lay my eyes on it.
November 22, 2010
The subtitle of the book is "From Abelard to Zola, from Ancient Greece to contemporary America, the ideas that have shaped the history of the world."
I couldn't have said it better my self.
Although arranged alphabetically by author, the index is arranged alphabetically by subject/author/emotion/etc. This is partly reference book, partly a fascinating distillation of the most influential thinkers/doers of all time.
This is not something you read straight through, but sip slowly and reflect on.
I couldn't have said it better my self.
Although arranged alphabetically by author, the index is arranged alphabetically by subject/author/emotion/etc. This is partly reference book, partly a fascinating distillation of the most influential thinkers/doers of all time.
This is not something you read straight through, but sip slowly and reflect on.
October 10, 2010
Lots of great comments , great quotes, thoughts from Aberlard to Zolo, from Ancient Greece to Contemporary America... about the government, religions, state,family, relationship, peace, human nature....so far have not read any positive comments about women. On the contrary, 100% comments regarding women are negative. There is something not right ...consider all these great thinkers from Confucius to Plato to Socrates had shaped our societies..
February 5, 2008
This is an outstanding resource for anyone who writes, or does a lot of public speaking. The book is essentially a compilation of quotes (some long, some short) arranged by alphabetically by author, and fully indexed by subject. I personally have found this to be an incredibly useful when writing any kind of non-fiction.
June 26, 2008
My mom read The Great Thoughts to me when I was a kid, explaining to me what I didn't understand. Over the years since, I've never found a general book of quotes that I like nearly as much. Others have more quotes than Great Thoughts, but none have left such an impression on me.
May 5, 2008
one of my favorite books.
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November 19, 2010John Cusack Reading List Challenge
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews